PADRES: Team expects better results as players become more accustomed to Petco's unique style

SAN DIEGO ---- Jason Bartlett readily admits he was unprepared for the Padres' grind-it-out style of play.

Before joining the Padres last season, the veteran shortstop spent three seasons in the offensive-minded American League East with the Tampa Bay Rays.

So it was quite an adjustment when a December 2010 trade took him from slugfests in the AL to the Padres and Petco Park, where an abnormal amount of tightly contested games are played and lopsided results and a chance to relax are rare.

Bartlett remembers he often heard the message last spring, one Padres coaches continue to preach, about how pitching and defense are critical to the team's success.

But Padres manager Bud Black and third baseman Chase Headley both recall instances more than a month into the 2011 season when Bartlett, who has played 860 games in the majors, approached them astonished over the team's high number of close games.

Bartlett and several other second-year Padres now have a better sense of the organization's scheme. Their awareness is one of many reasons the Padres expect to be a much better baseball team than outsiders expect. Oddsmakers and analysts predict doom and gloom for the Padres, who were 71-91 last season and finished last in the National League West. But within the clubhouse, the Padres think they'll be much improved.

"It gets pretty stressful," Bartlett said. "Very rarely did we have laughers. Playing in (Petco Park), you don't score too many runs very often. It really is pitching and defense for us. We have to do the little things like we have been preaching in camp to get the one run here or there.

"It really does make a difference."

In the big leagues last season, only the Cincinnati Reds, who had 95, played more games decided by two runs or less than the Padres (91). The league average was 79.5 games.

The Padres also played in the fourth-fewest games (34) decided by five or more runs ---- five fewer than the league average.

Now in his sixth season as manager, Black knows veterans and rookies alike need time to adjust to the team's style and to Petco Park, which has developed a reputation over the years as a run suppressor.

Last season, the Padres' lineup featured new faces at four of eight positions, which led to lots of adjustments and a slow start.

On May 1, seven of the Padres' eight starters were hitting under .250. First baseman Brad Hawpe, who was tasked with replacing Adrian Gonzalez, was hitting .149. Ryan Ludwick, the team's cleanup hitter in 56 of his 101 games, was hitting .198.

"They're low-scoring. They're tight. They're well-pitched," Black said. "I think there's an appreciation for those types of games, and you can only get the feel for that by experiencing it, and I think that takes time. It does lend itself to knowing what we need to do."

The team's many skeptics don't believe last season's experience will translate to success in 2012.

Las Vegas oddsmakers put the line at 70 1/2 wins for the Padres this season, and one site lists Black as the odds-on favorite to be baseball's first manager fired this season. Most analysts have picked them to finish last in the NL West. And ESPN thinks so little of the Padres, the network's Baseball Tonight bus tour bypassed the team's spring training site in Peoria, Ariz., this spring.

But the additions of Carlos Quentin and Yonder Alonso, who both arrived in December trades, a deal for backup catcher John Baker and the signing of Mark Kotsay have the Padres believing they're much better. Though Quentin will start the season on the disabled list after knee surgery last month, he and Alonso should provide the foundation of an offense that can only improve after last year's disappointing performance without Gonzalez. Last year was the first full season since 1988 that the Padres scored fewer than 600 runs.

"I think we're capable of being a really good team," Headley said. "We have some guys that are going to have another year of experience under their belt. They're going to play better. I think we got better with some of the moves that we made, especially on the offensive side."

The Padres hope to carry over the confidence gained this spring when they led or were among the leaders in a number of offensive categories, including hits, runs scored and average.

After a 3-7 start in spring training, the team won 16 of 21 games, and it entered Wednesday with the second-highest spring winning percentage among NL teams. The surge has resulted in extra swagger in the clubhouse as players have rallied around the team's underdog status.

"People are going to be surprised at how good this team is," center fielder Cameron Maybin said. "As a whole, I think we've got a chip on our shoulder because we feel we're a lot better than people are giving us credit for. I like it. There are some damn good, young players, man. I kind of like the feeling right now. All this talk about us not being very good in our division is firing some people up."

Black likes the feeling, too.

With an emphasis on winning close games, Black sees how his players worked hard this spring to improve their situational hitting. He also believes this offense will put the ball in play more often, which should lead to more runs. The Padres struck out 1,320 times last season, the second most in the NL.

Any increase in runs over last season's paltry 593 will help the Padres' fortunes in one- and two-run games. The Padres were 40-51 in 2011 in games decided by two runs or fewer and 20-31 in one-run games. When they won 90 games a season earlier, the Padres were 45-35 in games decided by two runs or less and 28-22 in one-run affairs.

"I think our strikeouts are down," Black said. "We've placed an emphasis on that a little bit. We're seeing much better situational hitting. You don't want to get a read in spring training. We did some things to address our offense. A big key is Quentin coming back and being a part of it. We're swinging the bats well in spring, but let's hope it carries over."

The pitching also has to fulfill its part of the equation. But even with the losses of Mat Latos and Aaron Harang, the Padres' rotation appears solid. If he stays healthy, Edinson Volquez is a possible candidate for comeback player of the year, and Cory Luebke looks like a strong No. 2 pitcher. Though Tim Stauffer has a sore arm to start the season and left-hander Clayton Richard is coming off left shoulder surgery, the Padres are confident because of their minor-league depth.

The Padres are also confident relievers Huston Street and Andrew Cashner can ably replace Heath Bell and Mike Adams in the late innings.

"I think everybody knows we've got some ballplayers," Luebke said. "I think there's definitely a sense things might be stacked against us a little bit. I think we have a good young group of guys. There's definitely a little buzz and confidence here."

There's also knowledge of how things work. How critical getting the bunt down is. Why one gaffe can make the difference between postgame high-fives and players leaving the field with their heads down.

"Every game we play is like that," Headley said. "There's just none of those games where you sit back, relax and get through it. It's intense. Every single play, inning, at-bat matters.